Magic eight for Wildcats

Kirmond the hero for hosts with match-winner in final five minutes

Wakefield leapfrogged above Bradford into eighth place in the table thanks to a scrappy 22-18 win over Widnes at the Rapid Solicitors Stadium on Sunday evening.

The in-form Wildcats made it six wins on the spin for the first time in the Super League era, though they made heavy weather of seeing off the competition's basement dwellers.

Widnes led 10-6 at the end of an error-strewn first half and the two teams were then level at 18 apiece going into the five minutes of the contest.

However it was the hosts who came up with the winning score at the death, Danny Kirmond gaining a head of steam to cross in the right corner.

Scenario

The result ends any hopes Hull KR have of extending their campaign beyond next week, while the Wildcats know either a win away at Salford or a Bradford loss to Catalan Dragons will clinch them a play-off berth.

The tension of knowing what was on the line seemed to get to the hosts, leading to them producing their worst performance of their winning streak.

Indeed, the Vikings - who are battling it out with Castleford for the wooden spoon at the foot of the standings - had the upper hand after the first 40 minutes thanks to a brace of tries from Rhys Hanbury.

The scrum-half broke the deadlock when he managed to hold off full-back Richard Mathers to cross on the left, adding the conversion himself.

His second was the one moment of real quality in the opening period, as he accepted Frank Winterstein's excellent offload before kicking the ball over the top of the onrushing Mathers to set up a clear path to the line.

In between Wakefield managed a try of their own through Kyle Amor, though it summed up their first-half efforts that they managed to get to the final tackle on just three sets of six.

Improvement

They did improve after the break, it would have been hard not to, and their ability to hang onto the ball was rewarded with a try from Mathers.

Paul Sykes missed the conversion to leave the score at 10-10 before Widnes pushed their noses back in front when Dave Allen's pass put Paddy Flynn in at the right corner, the left-footed McShane adding the extras from the touchline.

It was all tied up again when Ali Lauitiiti barged his way over from Frankie Mariano's offload, and it appeared the Wildcats would go on to win when Sykes landed a long-range penalty following a high shot by Flynn.

The winger was sent to the sin-bin for the offence but even with 12 the Vikings found a response, a Hanbury penalty levelling matters for a fourth time.

But, just as a draw seemed a serious possibility, half-back duo Kyle Wood and Tim Smith combined to set up Kirmond for the match-winner, meaning Wakefield now have their destiny in their own hands.